UPDATE

Decatur’s Intermediate School and McCarroll Middle School were briefly placed on lockdown this afternoon at the request of the Decatur Police Department after a patient from a nearby psychiatric facility escaped. Decatur Police Chief Rex Hoskins said they were notified just after 1 p.m. about a patient who had left the facility, located in the Wise Health System West Campus (the old hospital). As a precaution, Hoskins said he asked school administrators to lock down both campuses while they searched for the man. “We were just being precautious,” Hoskins said. “We didn’t want the kids going outside and running around while we were looking for him.” After about 30 to 45 minutes, the man was located near the Wise County Fairgrounds and returned to the facility. The school district sent a message to parents saying, “At no time were students in any danger.”